WEDDING FLOWERS: Ida Sjostedt
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Showing posts with label Ida Sjostedt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ida Sjostedt. Show all posts

Prince Carl Philip & Sofia’s Wedding: The Bride, Groom, and Bridesmaids

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There are a lot of things you could say about the wedding of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and Sofia Hellqvist (now H.R.H. Princess Sofia, Duchess of Värmland), but you couldn’t say that they didn’t stay true to themselves or – take cover, horrible cliché coming your way – that they weren’t absolutely over the moon on their wedding day.

From pop music to a new tiara, this was their wedding, done their way, and I can’t hate on that. Besides, I now know that the couple are ardent fans of the classic film, Sister Act 2 (I will accept no other possible explanation for the arrangement of “The Hymn of Joy/Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” that followed them out of the chapel), so I am obliged to LOVE THEM.


Let’s start with the groom. Prince Carl Philip wore the mess dress model 1878 uniform of the Swedish Amphibious Corps, where he holds the rank of major. He also wore the sash and star of the Order of the Seraphim, with the cross of the Order of the Polar Star around his neck.

Mattias Edwall / Kungahuset.se

His medals include King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Jubilee Commemorative Medals I and II, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel’s commemorative wedding medal, the gold Fredsbaskrarnas Service Medal, and the Swedish Defence University commemorative medal.


Led by Princess Estelle, the bridesmaids were Tiara Larsson, Anaïs Sommerlath, and Chloé Sommerlath. They wore dresses by Ida Sjöstedt in pure silk and Italian silk organza. (And don’t forget the hair bows. Never, ever, forget the bows.)

Mattias Edwall / Kungahuset.se

Like the bride, the bridesmaids carried bouquets of cream and coral garden roses. Sofia’s bouquet and hairdo also included sprigs of myrtle from the bush brought to Sweden by Princess Margaret of Connaught, who married the future Gustaf VI Adolf in 1905. Sprigs of myrtle from that plant have been used by Swedish royal brides since 1935, and a cutting from the same bush was taken to Denmark by Princess Ingrid of Sweden.


The myrtle turned out to be the part of Sofia’s wedding ensemble that was the most closely tied to family tradition, as she wore neither a family tiara nor the family veil. As was speculated and tentatively confirmed several times over, Princess Sofia chose Swedish designer Ida Sjöstedt to make her wedding gown. Created in shades of white, the gown has a strapless base of silk crepe with a flowing train and a long-sleeved Italian silk organza overlay with applied lace made by José María Ruiz.


The lace created flattering lines down the front of the dress and train and was concentrated on the sleeves and the wide neckline. Hand-embroidered cotton lace also adorned her sheer tulle veil.


I’m sure this one will draw comparisons to any number of other royal wedding gowns, and any number of non-royal wedding gowns also. It’s basically a running list of classical bridal traditions put to work, with really only the train length marking it as the dress of a royal bride (well, and the tiara, but we’ll get to that in a minute).


Sofia’s made some very safe sartorial choices of late, and I suppose you could say this is the safest of them all. I wouldn’t call it memorable, as royal wedding gowns go, but despite that, it was lovely on her and she looked comfortable in it. And it allowed the most intriguing part of her ensemble to take center stage…


Sofia got a NEW TIARA! A present to her from the King and Queen, according to the Royal Court, it has a diamond base of palmette or honeysuckle motifs and is topped by emeralds or other green stones. I was hoping to see her in a tiara from the family collection, but this is also a lovely gesture. Most of the Swedish princesses have a tiara to call their own in addition to the family tiaras available to them, and it only seems right that the newest Swedish princess should have that luxury too. It’s not too big, it’s not too small, it is very sparkly, and it’s a beautiful way to welcome a new family member. (Obviously, we’ll be giving it the full Tiara Thursday treatment later on.)


Coming up in a bit, we’ll talk about other members of the Swedish royal family and all of their guests. For now:

What did you think of Princess Sofia’s wedding gown?

Photos: via Getty Images, Kungahuset.se, SVT video screencaps, Mattias Edwall/Kungahuset.se
Place Your Designer Bets: Sofia Hellqvist's Wedding Gown

Place Your Designer Bets: Sofia Hellqvist's Wedding Gown

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Last week, we talked tiara guesses for the upcoming wedding of Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist, and many of you joined in me in placing your bridal tiara bets on the Connaught Tiara, either by logic or by hope. (Of course, this probably means we won't see it on the bride, because isn't that just the way it goes?)

And now, we move on to the main wedding gown show:

Who do you think will design Sofia Hellqvist's wedding gown?
(And what would you like to see?)

Rumors have mentioned Ida Sjöstedt as the lucky recipient of the royal commission. Sofia wore a Sjöstedt gown for her first appearance at the Nobel Prize ceremony this past December (below) and we've also seen the label on Princess Madeleine.

Many were guessing that she would go with a Swedish designer anyway, which I think would be a smart move. She's also worn gowns from Kay Senchai and By Malina recently. For Princess Madeleine's wedding, she turned to a Swedish label:
Sofia was dressed by Göran Alfredsson of Thalia in Stockholm, both for her lilac sheath at the ceremony (above) and the soft yellow gown she wore for the pre-wedding dinner (below). Fairly simple designs both, but they also struck the right note for one of her first big events as an official guest, even though she did not arrive with the royal party.

I'm personally hoping Fadi El Khoury gets a nod, if not from the bride, then from one of the other royal ladies. I'm still in love with the gown he made for Crown Princess Victoria at Madeleine's wedding (below, which I have raved about time and again and there's no stopping me any time soon), and would love to see what he could do with a royal wedding gown.

A Swedish designer is not a requirement, though. Queen Silvia picked Dior; Princess Madeleine picked Valentino. Which means the possibilities are endless, and she's worn such a variety of designers so far, it's hard to guess her favorite. She won't be too stuck with family traditions such as their heirloom wedding veil (worn by many Swedish brides, but not by Madeleine) And she's worn a lot of different styles, so the guessing is wide open. Have at it!

P.S. This is a two post day! Keep scrolling.

Photos: via Getty Images

Royal Fashion Awards: The Nobel Prizes, 2014 (UPDATED)

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Phew. There’s a lot going on right now. We’ll check in with Monaco’s big news tomorrow, but for now, we have tiaras to deal with. The Nobel Prize ceremonies happened yesterday in Oslo and Stockholm and the Norwegian and Swedish royal families were out in force. Obviously these events are about the Nobel laureates and not the royals, but as usual, I'll stay in my wheelhouse. (With one exception: I will share this article about the gown worn by laureate May-Britt Moser and its special significance, which I think is pretty cool.) Now, to the awards – and this is a long one, so settle in…

Best in Standards: Non-Tiara Division
The Norwegian Royal Family
The Oslo ceremony is for the Nobel Peace Prize and understandably omits the fancy tiara-wearing dress code (it’s also held earlier in the day), and we usually get a pretty standard showing from King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit. Mette-Marit wore the same headpiece (we won’t call it a hat) with a white outfit just a couple years ago, but it’s one of her standards that suits her particularly well. She also stuck to her standards by wearing one of her floral prairie dresses for the evening dinner (click here to see), but somehow I don't mind this one as much as I usually mind her covered wagon business. Anyway, a passing grade to all.
A couple screencaps including a look at Mette-Marit's hairdo, and Sonja's velvet jacket from Emilio Pucci. Mette-Marit's coat is from Valentino.

Over in Sweden, the rest of the prizes are given out in one of the most formal events of the year and the Swedish royal family was up to the task, turning out in force.
So many family members were present (the King, Queen, all three children with their respective significant others, plus Princess Christina and her husband) that only four members were on stage and everyone else had to join Christina in her usual spot in the front row.

Best in Standards: Tiara Division
Queen Silvia and Princess Christina
Queen Silvia has worn a variety of tiaras for the Nobel ceremony, but her two most frequent choices are the Leuchtenberg Sapphires and the Nine Prong Tiara. She picked the sapphires this year for the main event and I am ever so thankful for that. Princess Christina also went with her usual, the Six Button Tiara. And as I always say, if someone has to wear ye olde buttons, let it be Christina, since she makes the most of them.
A very shiny and embellished dress for Silvia, also a standard (for better or for worse).

Best in Nobel Spirit
Crown Princess Victoria
Queen Silvia has toned down her Nobel looks as time goes on, and it’s nice to know that someone is picking up the slack. Hello, Victoria! This is a proper ball gown if there ever was one. You know I love it and all its OTT splendor, including the fact that she had trouble moving around in it. (Dedication to the splendor cause, man!) It was designed by Pär Engsheden, her wedding dress designer.
She also delivered on the jewel front, finally bringing back the Baden Fringe Tiara and continuing her recent streak of debuting something new to her for each Nobel season. This year, it was the large diamond cross from the family collection, worn by Victoria for the first time. She also sported a large diamond bracelet, ruby brooch on her front, small brooch on her back, diamond earrings, and diamond lozenge brooch in her hair.

Most Curious in Nobel Spirit
Princess Madeleine
I want to like this but I’m finding it so curious. She did go big for the occasion, opting for an embellished dress from Fadi El Khoury (a designer I’ve longed to see the royals wear more often). But the print is almost an animal print, but not quite; the dress is almost a full skirt ball gown, but not quite.
She used most of Queen Josephine’s Amethyst Parure (earrings, brooch, bracelet), but stuck to the Modern Fringe Tiara. Almost, but not quite.

Best Tiara Potential
Sofia Hellqvist
Let’s get this out of the way: the dress (by Ida Sjostedt), it’s not great. In these photos, I think it looks quite fine actually. But on television, under the lights, it suffered from a serious case of S.O.S. Yes, Sequin Overload Syndrome. And I say this as someone who would like nothing more than to see her show up looking classy as can be and blow all her haters out of the water.* But luckily, something else did catch my eye: that hair!
She hasn’t been issued anything from the family vault yet (that brooch, whatever it’s made of, is certainly not part of the historic pink topaz set, as some originally guessed) but she’s all ready to go, hair brooch and all. I’m looking forward to next year already!

For more Nobel fun:

The tiara fest in Sweden isn’t over just yet – this evening is the King’s Dinner for the laureates at the palace. Stay tuned. The Norwegians still have the Nobel concert to go. Until then…

Who was your best dressed for Nobel 2014?


*Since posts including Sofia tend to end up with comments that dip into personal feelings about her background, let me just issue a friendly preemptive note for my lovely commenters: Let’s not go there.


UPDATE: Night #2 of Nobel festivities!
In Sweden, the traditional King’s Dinner for the Nobel laureates was held at the palace. You can click here for a gallery.
Queen Silvia came down with a case of ADLD (Another Dang Lace Dress, it’s been going around. Like the flu, but prettier) and matched it with the Connaught Tiara. Sofia Hellqvist toned down her sequin dress for a grade of Most Improved and she wore another brooch in her hair – but like last night, the palace stated that she wore private jewels. (You can see her hair embellishment here.)
Both Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine repeated last night’s tiaras, as did Princess Christina (I FROWN IN YOUR GENERAL DIRECTION, LADIES) (THOUGH I AM ALSO GLAD TO SEE THESE AGAIN INSTEAD OF THE FOUR BUTTON OR THE CUT STEEL BANDEAU, SO MAYBE I’M NOT THAT UPSET). Madeleine gave us déjà vu to a dress recently worn by her sister, and Victoria stuck a bow on it.
How you wear that dress without feeling like the angel in the Christmas play, I don’t know (maybe that is what you feel like and maybe that’s the point), but I applaud her bringing back the corsage necklace used by Princess Lilian, even if it’s not the best with this neckline.

And over in Norway, Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and their children attended the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. And Mette-Marit wore a dress adorned with frolicking magical creatures, because of course she did.
UNICORNS AND CHERUBS, people. And let me tell you something: I AM ALL FOR IT. (This busy royal week has driven me to caps lock mania. It’s not my fault.) This dress comes from British brand Mother of Pearl (via Minmote). Victoria went for a fairytale vibe with last night’s mega ball gown and now Mette-Marit’s going for a more literal interpretation. And I’m not kidding - I really am totally charmed by a dress covered in unicorns. The world needs more unicorn prints.


Photos: Getty Images as indicated, SVT video, Lyst, Kungahuset.se, Moda Operandi

Royal Outfit of the Day: September 10

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Question: If you saw this dress - just the dress on its own - to which royal wardrobe would you guess it belongs?
Tiered lace dress from the H&M Conscious Collection.
If you answered a) Crown Princess Mette-Marit or b) the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, I’m right there with you. But no! Crown Princess Victoria is the proud owner of this tiered lace dress, in the black version (I gather it might actually be a deep navy, but it’s dark enough not to bother splitting hairs). It is possible that she owns every item in the most recent H&M Conscious Collection, judging from this year’s appearances.
She paired it with a kicky costume piece in her hair. I wasn’t too sure about the pairing, but I do think a bit of fun is needed here. Runs a bit too close to a bride in mourning otherwise, no?
Queen Silvia and Princess Madeleine (with Chris O’Neill) were also present – actually they were much more the main event, despite my interest in Victoria’s dress, since Silvia founded the organization and Madeleine now works for it. Princess Madeleine is wearing her second recent gown from Ida Sjöstedt. It’s worth a look at the linked video; Madeleine’s sheer overlay is much more pronounced in movement, and Victoria’s skirt moves like a froofy bell as she picks her way over the cobblestones. I'm not sure that I like this H&M dress, but I would like to twirl around in it for a bit. The twirl factor is quite high, to put it in scientific terms. I shall wait to see what Mette-Marit makes of it before I issue my yay or nay. (Because we will see it on Mette-Marit, right?! Ruffles and a t-shirt top, that’s practically screaming her name. I’m still shocked she didn’t get to it first.)


Photos: H&M, Expressen video

Royal Event of the Day: August 27

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The Swedish royal family attended the Polar Music Prize festivities last night.
We now interrupt our regularly scheduled wardrobe theft game for refreshing change of pace (in these summer days, at least): an actual event! Half of the royal ladies were only present for part of the event (Queen Silvia and Princess Madeleine joined in later, Silvia was typical Silvia and Madeleine was...not her best in an Ida Sjöstedt dress), but still, the Swedish royal family is trying their best for us. We do appreciate the effort.
Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, above. Click here for a gallery of arrivals, including the King, Chris O'Neill, and a glimpse of Princess Christina and husband Tord Magnuson.
Is this the official Dress of 2014? Victoria's sure trying to make it so. This year has already brought us an outing for Victoria in the dark version and one previous outing in this light version, plus an appearance for Mette-Marit in the dark version. And that's just since June! It's a great dress, and a perfect choice for this event. But I think the question is: too much of a good thing, or never enough?
The dress is from the H&M Conscious Collection.
(By the way, Victoria will have her day in the closet theft sun later on.)

Photos: Anna Lu Lundholm via Getty Images, and H&M

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